Confused About Eggs?

[ashmichaelson]

Hey all,
So I have a female veiled cham that's about seven months old (approximately) named Pascal. I took her to the vet yesterday for a checkup, and asked her if there's a chance that Pascal's developing eggs because she's been a little on the bloated side and had been skimping out on her food for the past week or so. The vet told me that a lot of females end up not laying eggs at all unless they're bred, and she mentioned the climate and the feeders playing a big factor in determining whether the female in question would lay infertile eggs (I live in the dry climate of southeast Idaho, it's also a pretty high altitude.)
I'm looking for a second opinion here, because on this site everyone makes it sound like every female is for sure going to lay eggs whether you like it or not, but obviously I just got told other wise. Could someone give me a little bit of insight on this? Thanks in advance!

P.S. Pascal is looking good!

 

[kinyonga]

I would put an appropriate egg laying container in her cage just to be sure she has a place to dig to show you when she needs to lay eggs. It should be opaque and at least 12" deep by 12" by 8" full of moistened washed playsand.

Please post a recent photo of her.

 

[bobcochran]

Almost all females lay eggs at some point in their life, especially veileds, even if they're never bred. You can usually tell when they're getting ready to lay because they become restless, slow down or quit eating for a couple of days, and tend to cruise around the bottom of the cage looking for an appropriate site
to lay eggs. Not to mention become very plump and even lumpy from the eggs.
I would do as kinyonga suggests and provide an egg laying bin, that way you can watch to see her behaviors before egg laying and be able to recognize them
in the future.

 

[kinyonga]

Whether or not the female veiled will lay eggs depends on a few things such as how much she's being fed, temperatures, whether she sees a male or not, etc. Some lay eggs and never stop...some don't. If diet and temperature are controlled the clutch size can be reduced or reproduction even stopped if done right.

 

[ashmichaelson]

I would put an appropriate egg laying container in her cage just to be sure she has a place to dig to show you when she needs to lay eggs. It should be opaque and at least 12" deep by 12" by 8" full of moistened washed playsand.

Please post a recent photo of her.

Thanks so much for your input. I've bought some playsand and plain topsoil to use for a laying bin, I'm thinking i'll go out tonight and buy a new open trash bin or something like that to put at the bottom of her cage, just in case. I'm at work right now but I'll take a picture of her when I feed her during my lunch break.